Nina Cielica

Nina Cielica studies at III LO im. Adama Mickiewicza high school in Katowice, Poland.

Science is Nina’s passion, and she has participated in numerous science and technology competitions. Her project “Hurricane in the cup - vortices' trochoidal motion and the effects of instability during diffusion in liquids”, inspired by pouring milk into coffee one morning, brought her 1st prize and accreditation to one of the most prestigious science competitions for high school students, Regeneron ISEF, as part of national competition E(x)plory.

She also received honorable mention in Science on Stage Poland and the project will be presented during Science on Stage Europe. Recently, she also published with her teacher an article in the Polish journal ‘Advances in Physics’. A research paper about the possibility of life on Mars brought her another 1st prize and possibility to travel to Pic du Midi observatory in France. Moreover, a project on nuclear energy and ionization led to another 1st prize in the national competition ‘Nukleo’.

After winning the ‘E(x)plory’ competition, Nina’s reputation grew and led to invitations to various events or interviews where she uses her platform to popularize science and remind girls that there is a place for women in science and that ender is not a factor that defines someone’s ability.

In addition to participating in competitions or workshops, Nina finds time to volunteer and give back to her community. She is part of the organization Leo Club Katowice volunteering at events such as The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, Silesian Science Festival, celebrating St Nicolas’ Day at an orphanage and charity runs. Nina is also a volunteer at the Baltic Council for International Education, recently helping at the "Days of International Education" fair and also ran a social project which demonstrated to elementary school students why Physics is interesting and showed how one can we learn from movies or simple experiments.

One of the ways Nina drives social change is to build an international network of likeminded people. She is part of Girls Global Ready, where she is paired with a girl from the United States where they share experiences and discuss traditions and culture in their countries. This was inspiring for Nina because she saw that the Polish educational system could benefit through changing some of its approaches towards learning.

Currently, Nina is working on a project where she is creating biodegradable straws based on kombucha.